Merged Ukraine erupts in riots and general strike.

[Ziggurat]

At this point US mass consciousness is completely degenerated. A disgusting spectacle.

... said the Chavez apologist.

 

[dudalb]

Apparently there will be a referendum in the Crimea on whether or not to stay in the Ukraine.
All managed by the Russians ,of course.
I really hope that people see this as the stage managed farce it is. But I am afrais that some people..particularly in Europe, will buy it hook, line and sinker. They are looking for ANY excuse to appease Putin that will them a cover, no matter how thin and tattered, of moral respectablity for their decision.

 

[IDB87]

RT Editor-in-Chief Op-Ed: About Abby Martin, Liz Wahl and media wars

At this point US mass consciousness is completely degenerated. A disgusting spectacle.

Meh.

A rival media anchor’s resignation is certainly much more newsworthy and more relevant to the Ukraine crisis

I'd say more entertaining. But if there were live defections in what amounted to Washington controlled and directed News, RT would be reporting on it probably as much as the Anglo-Sphere is reporting on Abby and Liz.

than two European leaders saying opposition henchmen may have been killing people.

If the tables had been reversed, and there was a phone call with Yankie where he posits that perhaps Putin ordered the shootings, our media would be going crazy with it while RT would be either under reporting it or taking a skeptical stance and awaiting better evidence. It would be nice if RT would be honest with itself in that regard, but then it's all politics.

Yesterday I spent quite some time explaining to a New York Times correspondent why I consider Russia’s position to be right. I’m Russian. I support my country and I will fight for the truth for as long as it takes. Neither Abby, nor Liz, nor many other employees are Russian nationals, but foreign.

What does Abby or Liz being 'foreign' have to do with anything?

 

[spin0]

Apparently there will be a referendum in the Crimea on whether or not to stay in the Ukraine.
All managed by the Russians ,of course.
I really hope that people see this as the stage managed farce it is. But I am afrais that some people..particularly in Europe, will buy it hook, line and sinker. They are looking for ANY excuse to appease Putin that will them a cover, no matter how thin and tattered, of moral respectablity for their decision.

Yes, in all of its steps it is a farce, especially the referendum. Those proclamations of independend or annexed Crimea are Putin's posturing, but with very serious tones and repercussions of course. He wanted the world to listen, has gotten its ear, and he has a serious grip of the bargaining chip Crimea.

One needs to take a look at the background of the guy Russia installed as a new Crimean PM to see that he is disposable. Getting rid of him wouldn't be much of a sacrifice for Russian interests in the area, which may be one of the reasons why they chose him in the first place. Putin is perfectly able to and will tighten his grip there until he considers there's serious efforts from Ukraine and especially the West to understand and consider his terms - which he sees as vital.

It's not worrying what the regular Putin apologists may think about it, but what the people of power in Ukraine and the West think and how they respond. So far Ukraine has done commendably well. And I think the EU did good today, but it's just one of the first steps and there's still lot of room for missteps by all sides and parties (re: Georgia).

 

[alfaniner]

My related concern is that North Korea's leader is gonna do something really drastic because no one is talking about him at the moment. And to show he's crazier than Putin. Even though we already knew that.

 

[dudalb]

Yes, in all of its steps it is a farce, especially the referendum. Those proclamations of independend or annexed Crimea are Putin's posturing, but with very serious tones and repercussions of course. He wanted the world to listen, has gotten its ear, and he has a serious grip of the bargaining chip Crimea.

One needs to take a look at the background of the guy Russia installed as a new Crimean PM to see that he is disposable. Getting rid of him wouldn't be much of a sacrifice for Russian interests in the area, which may be one of the reasons why they chose him in the first place. Putin is perfectly able to and will tighten his grip there until he considers there's serious efforts from Ukraine and especially the West to understand and consider his terms - which he sees as vital.

It's not worrying what the regular Putin apologists may think about it, but what the people of power in Ukraine and the West think and how they respond. So far Ukraine has done commendably well. And I think the EU did good today, but it's just one of the first steps and there's still lot of room for missteps by all sides and parties (re: Georgia).

I admit the EU today seeing the referendum as the farce it is is heartening.
Once again, I am a little surprised that the Putin Propaganda machine is proving as incompetent..at least outside Russia and the Usual Gang Of Useful Idiots....as it has. To quote .once again,Bart Simpson, "Way Too Obvioius, Dude".

 

[geni]

Hmmp better start getting really to update the maps on the relivant wikipedia articles.

 

[spin0]

Meanwhile in Damascus: President al-Assad expresses Syria's solidarity with Russian efforts to restore security and stability to friendly Ukraine

 

[dudalb]

Meanwhile in Damascus: President al-Assad expresses Syria's solidarity with Russian efforts to restore security and stability to friendly Ukraine

Actually I was expecting this statement about ten seconds after Russia started to move troops in......

 

[Safe-Keeper]

TO miy mind pushing nutjobs like Alex Jones would alone be enough evidence to move a TV network into the "totally unreliable as a source of information" category.

Very true.

 

[L.Y.S.]

How exactly does Ukraine plan on enforcing the dissolution of the Crimean Parliament?

Sounds like a bit of a stretch. They can't really do that without provocation. Crimean is a serious stalemate.

 

[trustbutverify]

I'd say more entertaining. But if there were live defections in what amounted to Washington controlled and directed News, RT would be reporting on it probably as much as the Anglo-Sphere is reporting on Abby and Liz.

...the internet would explode.

 

[trustbutverify]

How exactly does Ukraine plan on enforcing the dissolution of the Crimean Parliament?

Sounds like a bit of a stretch. They can't really do that without provocation. Crimean is a serious stalemate.

I agree. Which is amazing considering Putin was up a rook not long ago.

 

[spin0]

^ Yup, he's in a very good position ATM. And it really should not have come as a surprise to the West. Hindsight 20/20 and all but here's a prescient forecast written in 2008 by Stratfor's George Friedman: Ukraine and the 'Little Cold War'

New Republic has an interesting piece about Ukrainian/Russian/Soviet identity: Eastern Ukraine Is Still Fighting Its Past Life under Stalin's long shadow

In the last tense months, the conflict in Ukraine has been described as a fight over Ukrainian identity—in terms of language, territory, and great-power influence. Maps on television and in newspapers show a country conveniently cleaved in half between Ukrainian speakers in the pro-Yulia Tymoshenko west and Russian speakers in the Yanukovych east. The former love Europe; the latter love Russia. The former have been oppressed for centuries by the latter, who want to see a return to the days of the USSR.

But Cherkashin’s informal office lecture demonstrated that the truth is more complicated, as it always is. The real split is generational. Unlike Cherkashin, his students were all born after 1991, in an independent Ukraine, and they see their country’s close relationship with Russia very differently than their older professor. In fact, Cherkashin’s own research confirms this division. The younger a citizen of Donetsk, the more likely she is to view herself as Ukrainian. The older she is, the more likely she is to identify as Russian. And this is the crux of it all: What we are seeing today is the reverberation of what happened more than 20 years ago. This is still the long post-Soviet transition.

Good, finally someone in the media has noticed the generational split. Perhaps they start to look at the published opinion surveys next and analyzing the data... nah that's probably too much to ask for.

 

[L.Y.S.]

Good, finally someone in the media has noticed the generational split. Perhaps they start to look at the published opinion surveys next and analyzing the data... nooo that's probably too much to ask for.

There have been dozens of articles on the generational split already. It has done little to stem the general sentiment of east pro-Russia, west pro-EU that the public has formed.

 

[spin0]

^ Interesting. Could you link to say half a dozen of those numerous articles? May be good reads.

 

[L.Y.S.]

^ Interesting. Could you link to say half a dozen of those numerous articles? May be good reads.

Will I link them all? No. I found these articles over weeks of searching, but you've already linked several of the articles yourself. The opinion piece about the east west divide was one that highlighted generational differences.

http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-protests-generational-divide/25182439.html

http://www.localnews8.com/video/The...lict/-/461276/24788964/-/v0l9klz/-/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/04/ukrainian-students-in-usa/6010397/

If you want to find the rest.

Anyway, the point being that articles like these have already been written. It doesn't change the general sentiment of non-Europeans that western Ukraine is for EU, and eastern Ukraine is for Russia, even if that sentiment is misleading.

 

[L.Y.S.]

Appears that the heat is turning up in Odessa.

 

[trustbutverify]

As a side note, Sarah Palin reminds us once again what an embarrassment she is.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Appears that the heat is turning up in Odessa.

Slightly questionable article. As if it were far-fetched that provocateurs from Western Ukraine had arrived ... here's what the people of Charkow found in their occupied government building: a bunch of mostly very young skinhead/miscreant types from abroad.

Here is a report from on the ground in Odessa, part 2 yet to be published. Includes interviews with both sides. If Nuland could just tell her hordes to stop chanting "Slava Nazi"... baaaad PR.